Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Matt and I are back in Virginia after spending Christmas in Kingsford. We flew into Wausau, Wisconsin this year because it was the closest we could get without spending over $1000 on our airfare. My Dad and sister picked us up, and we drove home in less than desirable conditions.

It was great to spend time with my family. My Mom cooked up a storm, and I was able to have some homecooked meals. Nothing beats cheese ravs, porketta sandwiches, and turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes. On top of that, my Mom added a new Christmas cookie to her tray. It was a pistachio cookie dipped in chocolate.

My nephew, Landon, started crawling a few days before Christmas. He is the most adorable thing. There is nothing like a cuddly baby. After spending the week with him, I can't wait until April. I can only hope our baby girl is as happy as him.

Like every year, my Dad, sisters, Matt, and I played board games. This year we played Scrabble. We also went to the movies to see "Marley and Me".

My sisters and Mom also threw me a baby shower while we were back home. My sister had the Knights of Columbus Hall decorated very cute, and she even made her own diaper cake. It was so nice to see people who I wouldn't have time to see since we weren't home very long. I received many wonderful gifts for the baby.

The only downfall of our trip was getting the flu. (On the plus side, the baby didn't like the flu very much so the next day she was VERY active, and Matt was finally able to feel her kick. I was so happy to finally be able to share the experience with him.)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with Matt's parents and sister and her husband because we leave for Michigan on Tuesday. After opening a few presents tagged "To Baby", I realized that this would be the last Christmas as just the two of us. Next year brings many wonderful changes. For starters, our baby girl will be celebrating her first Christmas. She'll be around eight months old, and while this memorable event is probably more for us than her, she'll get presents from Santa for the first time.

Now, I know I have over a year to think about this day, but I've been thinking about family traditions. What traditions do we want to create for our family?

Each morning after I get our lunches together, I usually sit at the kitchen table to eat my breakfast and read the daily reading out of the Advent book we received from church. Friday was a hectic day due to our 7th grade breakfast at school (Our team was in charge of it.). I needed to be at school early in order to get things in the ovens. Well, when I get frazzled, I tend to forget things. This Friday I simply went to school with no morning readings. I know...I know...and after the day we had, I wish I hadn't skipped over it.

I'll save you from the drama, but by mid-afternoon I was so upset with everyone. By the end of the day I was exhausted, and I shouldn't have been. As soon as I got home, I saw the book on the table. I picked it up and read the daily reading only to see the following prayer at the bottom.

When my plans get upset, Lord, help me not to get upset. Help me to choose the path of generosity and love.

I'd been teaching the theme of generosity all week at school since we are reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, but when I need to show it the most, I got upset.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

1. Three quarters of your class writes all over the test even after you have told them repeatedly not to do so.2. They still ask to use a pen even though it is scantron and must use a #2 pencil.3. They are done with their test in less than 10 minutes.4. Even with reading deadlines soon approaching, they still refuse to read a book during their reading time.5. You tell them they have to dress up for the field trip to a theatre, and they immediately start complaining and stating they don't own anything but jeans.

Notice a trend? Even on days like this, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

It's beginning to look a lot like...me in the recliner watching my collection of Christmas movies. I think when we first started dating and even the first year of marriage, my husband had no idea how much I love Christmas. One part of my tradition and now our tradition is to partake in a movie marathon consisting only of the very best (in my opinion) Christmas movies. Since Matt can only take so much, he only watches four of these movies, which I have *.

I can officially say "The End" to my thesis. I finished it about a 1/2 hour ago. Finishing it is a relief, not only because it is due on Wednesday, but because this thing had been a huge part of my life since June. I've read countless articles, ran over 15 graphs, and typed over 40 pages. It was time consuming and at times a pain, but now I can turn it in and say, "The END."

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I had another check-up tonight, and everything sounds great. Her heartbeat was 142 bpm.

Slowly, but surely, we are preparing for this little one. Matt has started painting her nursery. Well, at this point, only half of it is primed, but eventually it will be a light purple. We are planning on buying her crib and changing table after the holidays.

My preparation is learning all I can about cloth diapers, since that is one thing we have decided to try. I even bought my first diapers on Monday. Granted, I'm nowhere near having my stock pile yet, but it is a start. I'll keep plugging away on the internet searching for deals.